Goodbye Dodgertown, Hello Beijing

It’s been a pretty hectic and heavy day, with half the team preparing to leave for China and the other half continuing under Tommy’s guidance in Vero Beach. It took exactly two innings for Tommy to get into a heated exchange with the umpires today and it was a classic moment…just seeing him in full uniform, run out onto the field, brought back great memories from his days in the dugout.

Adding to the significance of the day is the potential that it was the last day ever in Dodgertown for some of us. If all goes as planned, we’ll be in Glendale next year, which will be absolutely amazing for our fans in Los Angeles and something that many of us are looking forward to greatly. Still, on this day, it was weird to stand on the balcony of the administration building and watch a couple of innings knowing that we likely won’t be back. In fact, I stood there the night before, too, with the stadium empty and thought about all the legends who had played on that field over the years. What an amazing place…

As we pulled away on the bus and out of Dodgertown, it was an eerie feeling and yet, I’m hopeful that all of you have had the chance to experience Spring Training there at some point over the past 61 years. And for those who haven’t, which I’m guessing is the majority of you, well, that’s the reason why we’re moving to Arizona. Be prepared for a very, very cool experience in the future.

Of course, while I’ve spent about six months of my life in total in Vero Beach, that’s nothing compared to people like Maury Wills, Billy Delury, Tommy Lasorda and all the others who will undoubtedly share their thoughts with the media over the next week while they remain at Dodgertown. In particular, keep in mind for some L.A. Times columns coming next week and highlights on ESPN, as their crew will be following Tommy around for a few days. Plus, the last game on March 17 will be televised on MLB.TV

But among those leaving today with the longest time spent at Dodgertown are Jaime Jarrin, clubhouse manager Mitch Poole, dodgers.com beat writer Ken Gurnick and team photographer Jon SooHoo. In fact, the front of the site will soon have a tribute to Dodgertown in SooHoo’s likely final gallery, which he shot earlier today. He does some pretty impressive work with the lens and today was no exception.

So with that, there’s only one thing left to say and that’s thank you. Thank you to Craig Callan and his entire staff at Dodgertown for all of their incredible hospitality. All the groundskeepers, ticket takers, hotel staff workers, dining room attendants, lounge bartenders, security guards and everyone else who has made us all feel at home for so many years there – a huge thank you goes out to all of you, too.

And of course, last but far from least, an enormous thank you to the fans and people of Vero Beach, who have supported the team incredibly over the years and who we hope will come and visit in Glendale, where they’ll be joined by thousands of like-minded Dodger fans who can’t wait to see their team in the spring. We simply cannot thank you all enough…

276 Comments

Jason Kendall (35) – club option for ’09; vests with 110 games played in ’08

Paul Lo Duca (37)

Ivan Rodriguez (37)

David Ross (32)

Jason Varitek (37)

Gregg Zaun (38) – $3.75MM vesting option for ’09; vests with 160 games played in ’08

First Basemen

Ben Broussard (32)

Carlos Delgado (37) – $16MM mutual option for ’09 with a $4MM buyout

Nomar Garciaparra (35)

Jason Giambi (38) – $22MM club option for ’09 with a $5MM buyout

Scott Hatteberg (39)

Kevin Millar (37)

Richie Sexson (34)

Mark Teixeira (29)

Second Basemen

Mark Ellis (32)

Mark Grudzielanek (39)

Orlando Hudson (31)

Tadahito Iguchi (34)

Jeff Kent (41)

Felipe Lopez (29)

Mark Loretta (37)

Shortstops

Orlando Cabrera (34)

David Eckstein (34)

Adam Everett (32)

Rafael Furcal (31)

Cristian Guzman (31)

Cesar Izturis (29)

Felipe Lopez (29)

Edgar Renteria (33) – $11MM club option for ’09 with a $3MM buyout

Juan Uribe (30)

Omar Vizquel (42) – $5.2MM club option for ’09 with a $0.3MM buyout

Third Basemen

Casey Blake (35)

Hank Blalock (28) – $6.2MM club option for ’09 with a $0.25MM buyout

Joe Crede (31)

Nomar Garciaparra (35)

Wes Helms (33) – $3.75MM club option for ’09

Chipper Jones (37) – $8-11MM vesting option for ’09

Left Fielders

Moises Alou (42)

Garret Anderson (37) – $14MM club option for ’09 with a $3MM buyout

Milton Bradley (31)

Pat Burrell (32)

Carl Crawford (27) – $8.25MM club option for ’09 with $2.5MM buyout

Adam Dunn (29)

Cliff Floyd (36) – $3MM club option for ’09 with a $0.25MM buyout

Raul Ibanez (37)

Jacque Jones (34)

Jason Michaels (33) – $2.6MM club option for ’09

Craig Monroe (32)

Jay Payton (36)

Wily Mo Pena (27) – $5MM club option or $2MM player option for ’09

Manny Ramirez (37) – $20MM club option for ’09

Juan Rivera (30)

Center Fielders

Rocco Baldelli (27) – $6MM club option for ’09 with a $4MM buyout

Mike Cameron (36) – $10MM club option for ’09 with a $750K buyout

Jim Edmonds (39)

Jacque Jones (34)

Mark Kotsay (33)

Right Fielders

Bobby Abreu (35)

Casey Blake (35)

Milton Bradley (31)

Brian Giles (38) – $9MM club option for ’09 with a $3MM buyout

Ken Griffey Jr. (39) – $16.5MM club option for ’09 with a $4MM buyout

Vladimir Guerrero (33) – $15MM club option for ’09 with a $3MM buyout

Jacque Jones (34)

DH

Milton Bradley (31)

Pat Burrell (32)

Adam Dunn (29)

Jason Giambi (38) – $22MM club option for ’09 with $5MM buyout

Vladimir Guerrero (33) – $15MM club option for ’09 with a $3MM buyout

Raul Ibanez (37)

Manny Ramirez (37) – $20MM club option for ’09

Juan Rivera (30)

Frank Thomas (41) – $10MM option for ’09; vests with 376 PAs in ’08

Jim Thome (38) – $13MM club option for ’09 with $3MM buyout

Jose Vidro (34) – vesting option for ’09

Starting Pitchers

A.J. Burnett (32) – can opt out after ’08 season

Paul Byrd (38)

Ryan Dempster (32)

Jon Garland (29)

Tom Glavine (43)

Orlando Hernandez (43)

Randy Johnson (45)

John Lackey (30) – $9MM club option for ’09 with a $0.5MM buyout

Esteban Loaiza (37) – $7.5MM club option for ’09 with a $0.375MM buyout

Braden Looper (34)

Derek Lowe (36)

Greg Maddux (43)

Pedro Martinez (37)

Matt Morris (34) – $9MM club option for ’09 with a $1MM buyout

Jamie Moyer (46)

Mark Mulder (31) – $11MM club option for ’09 with a $1.5MM buyout

Mike Mussina (40)

Brad Penny (31) – $8.75MM club option for ’09 with a $2MM buyout

Oliver Perez (27)

Andy Pettitte (37)

Kenny Rogers (44)

C.C. Sabathia (28)

Curt Schilling (42)

Ben Sheets (30)

John Smoltz (42) – $12MM club option for ’09

Tim Wakefield (42) – perpetual $4MM club option

Woody Williams (42) – $6.75MM club option for ’09 with a $0.25MM buyout

Randy Wolf (32)

Closers

Joe Borowski (38)

Ryan Dempster (32)

Brian Fuentes (33)

Eric Gagne (33)

Trevor Hoffman (41)

Jason Isringhausen (36)

Todd Jones (41)

Brad Lidge (32)

Joe Nathan (34)

Al Reyes (38)

Francisco Rodriguez (27)

Middle Relievers

Doug Brocail (42) – club option for ’09

Juan Cruz (28)

Alan Embree (39) – $3MM club option for ’09

Scott Eyre (37)

Kyle Farnsworth (33)

Aaron Fultz (35)

Tom Gordon (41) – $4.5MM club option for ’09 with a $1MM buyout

LaTroy Hawkins (36)

Matt Herges (39) – club option for ’09

Bob Howry (35)

Steve Kline (36)

Brandon Lyon (29)

Damaso Marte (34) – $6MM club option for ’09 with a $0.25MM buyout

Guillermo Mota (35)

Will Ohman (31)

Darren Oliver (38)

Juan Rincon (30)

Russ Springer (40)

Mike Stanton (42) – $2.5MM club option for ’09 with a $0.5MM buyout

Mike Timlin (43)

Salomon Torres (37) – $3.75MM club option for ’09 with a $0.3MM buyout

David Weathers (39)

Dan Wheeler (31)

Kerry Wood (32)

Pretty slim pickins and a huge amount of end of the line guys you shouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.

Even with a decent year, I see the D’s picking up the option on Penny. And if we don’t resign Lowe, I’d look for Ned to go after Ben Sheets if he’s healthy. No way the Yanks or Sox get outbid for Sabathia, plus the contract would be too long. Think Sheets takes a 3-year at a slightly inflated price. Looking at this mess, Kershaw HAS to be in the rotation by ’09.

Pretty bleak at second as well, which to me makes you almost HAVE to resign Furcal and either move him to 2nd or play Abreu/Hu at that position.

Luckily we won’t need much. We can get by on Hu and Abreau at short and 2nd if Furcal proves too expensive. Really need LaRoche and DeWitt to come thru, the pickings for a 3rd baseman are crummy. Atlanta will pick up Chippers option and he is the only one of that bunch I would want and at that he is getting along in years. If Kuo can stay healthy it would be awesome to have him and Kershaw (2 lefties)in the rotation next year if Schmidt doesn’t come back. Future looks rosy. Especially if we play the best 8 most of the time.

Starting pitchers: Barring something really unfortunate and unforeseen, Penny and Lackey renewals are mortal locks. If Kuroda is $11.2M /year average to be a 4th starter, Penny for $8.75M (really $6.75M since the $2M buyout would have to be paid) is a steal. If A. J. Burnett can demonstrate some health (46 starts the last two seasons total), he will opt out and try to get a big contract (don’t want him at that price.) A good year should yield a bonanza for Oliver Perez. Sabathia, duh. If he makes 25 or less starts for SD, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Randy Wolf back on a one-year deal, again, for “depth” (he command more years from someone else if he makes 30 starts).

Know what else is factual? The Earth is round. But if I repeated “The Earth is round, the Earth is round, the Earth is round…” 50 times a day, that would only make me look like a madman or a fool. Factuality doesn’t necessarily equate with pertinence, especially at the point of saturation where anyone who’s read this blog has heard the same argument a thousand times.

Oh, but I sure hope his OBP hits that magical .360 number! Then the bashing will stop!

Oh wait. No it won’t. Then people will mock his arm. Or his hat. Or whatever it is they want to hate about him.

SCOTT****I had to leave just after I made my post on the other thread but if you get to see this my answer to your question is, and I assume you meant after Kent is gone, I think it will be Abreu if he is healhy enough but if he isn’t I think it could be Hu if raffy returns next year or it will be DY. If the Dewitt kid is as good as he looks he might grab or at lease challenge LaRoche for 3rd.

i just cant wait for Josh Bell to get to the majors. he is gonna be a beast at 3rd…so im not that worried about if laroche will live up to wait we hope he will. he prolly could, but being injured this many times at such a young age, i dont think it is gonna happen

Blake DeWitt has played 71 AA games. The 45 last season went like this: .281 .306 .466, the season before .183 .241 .221. He’s probably starting this year in Jacksonville, but at 22 is still young and probably a couple years away.

Josh Bell may be a good beast with the bat but a bad beast with the glove. You’ll be waiting a while since he’s 21 and sniffed high-A ball for the first time last year, for 20 games. There are huge questions about his glove, at 3B he has 55 Es in 160 games.

The exciting really young kid is June draftee Andrew Lambo. Check out what the 18-year old did in rookie ball in the GCL last season:

The sad thing about Pierre having a starting position is the effect on Ethier’s and possibly Kemp’s development. Both Ethier and Kemp are at the stage where they should be regarded as worthy major leaguers, and they both could be expected to develop rapidly in every aspect of play by PLAYING, not substituting or platooning. Every time they sit diminishes their maturing into star quality players, and I think they both have that potential. Just how do we expect Pierre to improve his skills by comparison, and what is his upside for the team? Does anybody in management even consider this? I don’t see any evidence of it so far.

Yea, I guess the Front Office and a couple of the bloggers here think we should just roll over and accept the unacceptable and absurd notion that Pierre is a better option than Ethier/Young/Repko. Injustice and stupidity should not be rewarded with silence.

puppyhead I agree with you about the pierre argument…Enough already..all of you bring up valid arguments over and over, lets talk about something else.

old fogey you mentioned Lambo, he is a great looking hitter, as is Pedro Baez, I saw him last week in a minor league intrasquad game take one deep. He is also a plus fielder and only 19. Silverio who led the GCL in hitting last year is a good looking player.

This is exciting to talk about and refreshing.

lambo would have been a higher selection if not for the trouble he got in in 10th grade. He has matured and he works his butt off and will be a star.

And yes, I would take Repko in left over Pierre. Given the same amount of plate appearances, he would have an OBP as good or better than the declining Pierre. Much higher slugging % and vastly superior defense. He is also very fast and can swipe bases.

I’m kind of excited to see what Ethier does in the cleanup spot. Not that I think he’s a normal cleanup hitter, but, this could be a good chance for him to shine a little. Again though, he’s in Right, with Pierre in left, just another indication they’ve made up their minds on this a long, long time ago.

He is in right because of 2 reasons, 1. yes Pierre it seems as if will be in the lineup as the LF and Kemp is in China.

Speaking of Ehtier, when I was in Vero I sat in front of Mrs Ethier. Andre picked a good one in her. She is pretty and has a great personality and a very good athlete. So he has things going on in his life that makes going home a lot easier.

In the long run he will either be the starting LF or will be traded for pitching depth. I hope the former but we will see.

Obviously all the extra work Pierre puts in showing up early isn’t WORKING so they have to get him more AB’s to try and work out the kinks. Good part about that is, the more they see of his pathetic act, the more likely someone will wake up and smell the coffee.

No Puppy, you have to say it thousands of times, over and over. Most injustices and wrong thinking take months, years, and decades to change. And it is because people keep clamoring for it. Not just saying it a couple of times and shutting up. Granted, the Pierre issue is not really up there on the scale of wrongs with the world but it is the biggest issue right now for the Dodgers and their future success.

It will be interesting to see how the Ethier Pierre situation plays out. To see if Andre gets traded, or to see if they do put him in and or platoon, or if they trade Pierre, there’s just a lot of things that could happen.

I’m glad you acknowledged that Pierre is not a “wrong” in the moral sense of the word. Remember, we aren’t political activists, we’re baseball fans. I think in most sports, reasons for true outrage are really held to a minimum. Could it be that we may be simply feeding our own anger and discontent by talking about it so much? The vast majority of us can agree on Juan Pierre, so why do we need to sound off so constantly? We’re certainly educating very few people in our point of view at this point, and certainly not changing anything.

I guess we are hoping it will keep it in the forefront of Ned and Co. Probably won’t though. Hopefully, the team will prosper when the season begins with whomever is playing and it will be a moot point.

Of course, Scott. But even if they don’t, talking about the same thing all day gets boring. Why don’t we focus our anger on non-Dodgers? Why don’t we talk about how awful the Gnats are, and how much we hate the Padres, and how we hope their stadiums collapse and all their fans expire tragically?

Know what I’m really excited about? How well Furcal has played in the winter and early spring. Having a struggling Furcal AND a struggling JP last year didn’t help any. If Furcal is healthy, slugging, and getting on base, the D’s should score a ton more runs.

I’m hoping for continued success from DeWitt. Even though he will probably play in the minors for another year or two, this is great exposure and experience for him. Nomar will probably play 3rd until he gets hurt again. I’m afraid that LaRoche has probably missed his chance with his injury and operation. This would have been his year to prove that he belongs in the majors, and I fear that his injuries last year and this year will mean that time will pass him by. The same might be true for Abreu. There are just too many other promising talents coming over the horizon and looking for their opportunity. If you’re not able to seize it when it’s your time, it just may be over for you and time for somebody else.

I was thinking the same thing about LaRoche, messagebear. I think his only real shot is if Nomar gets injured July or later – any sooner than that and he might not be rehabbed enough to play at the MLB level.

I think LaRoche will get his opportunity this season and if not, he’s still only 24. Numbers talk in baseball and if he produces in Vegas during his rehab, he’ll be back up with the big club in no time. Nomar will not stay healthy all year and our fallback options at 3rd do not have anywhere near the corner infield potential that LaRoche has.

Just by coincedence, “In My Life” by the Beatles was playing as I read Josh’s post. Really surreal hearing that song while realizing that Dodgertown will soon be just a memory. I’ve never been there, it was never feasible, but it’s still sad to me. The Dodgers are losing a major link to their past, I mean, I’ve never heard of Giantstown, Angelville or Pueblo de los Padres.

I liked that although they are the Los Angeles Dodgers (and I’m a native Californian), every season started in the same place where they’ve started since the 40’s. Although they’re here, they still had their roots on the East Coast. I know that’s not practical in today’s world, but sometimes the best things in life aren’t practical.

Abreu, I hope they find out what is ailing him. The Dodgers did not really believe him last year and what is happening now is not good for his long term plans. Hopefully the trip to Philly today will provide some insight.

The only fact that matters is that Ethier is younger, a better outfielder, and a better hitter than Pierre and it is ashame that he is being stifled by an inferior talent. On another team, where Pierre is actually the 2nd or 3rd best outfielder on the team, there is no debate. It just isn’t the case on the Dodgers. Ethier deserves better.

Scott, I do not disagree with you, I am a big Ethier fan and was a Pierre basher (i can send you my blog) but just to rehash it everyday is fruitless, but your right. As for as trusting management, I believe I was referencing Torre. I have bashed Ned trades for Lugo, Hendrickson, Loaiza, etc…I truly believe that Ethier is the right fit for this team and it will work out in the long run.

If it is a Kemp/Ethier platoon then all bets are off and the public schlanging of Ned/Torre can begin. I do not think Torre will do that.

I am hoping that Pierre gets off to a great start and another team needs a CF/leadoff guy and we can get

You know, I don’t come to the blog each day ready to bash JP, but what usually happens is I read a quote in the Times or on MLB.com from Ned or Joe that gets my blood boiling. Too many ignorant columns from Plaschke and Gurnick, you know?

It’s that elephant in the room, but I’m all for discussing other topics if they’re here and let’s hope this thing solves itself not too far into the season.

What’s this 6 innings no hits yet. I see Lasorda was up to his old tricks yesterday, that’ll spark things up. He’s an excitable guy. I understand he gave a pep talk before the game today, apparently it didn’t help. I hope by the time I finish this post, we do SOMETHING in this game offensively. I am suprised of one thing, JUANPY HAS WALKED TWICE. *****Billy Crystal has signed a one day contract with the Yankees to play tomorrow against the Pirates.****Pedro Martinez, Ramone I’s younger brother (How many of you out there remember when Pedro played for the Dodgers?), pitched a simulated game yesterday___with fielders__. HEY JOSH, have the Dodgers ever had a pitcher do that, recently? I can’t remember offhand. Can You ask Ned if he sees any good in that? I know the question should be ask of Honeycut, but he’s not on your program. ****With Kent & Nomar resting their injuries, it looks like a good chance for Kiddy korp to get some work in. To bad Tony A. has to miss out.*****Isn’t it great to know that Saito’s pitching off the mound, OH how good that is. *****I wonder what this guy O’Connor had on the mound for the National Expos this afternoon. Let me go back to check the score.

****, I leave for a while Ethier homers, still no hits for anyone else, and on top of that, Myers looks every bit his age…. Man, it would be a shame if Ethier was overlooked for someone who has nothing to offer but speed. Why don’t we just bring Rickey Henderson out of retirement, I’m sure he’d come back AGAIN.

I don’t think we’ll see too much of that during the regular season ENCHANTED, unless they try to make him more discipline(thksagnBEAR)at the plate(JUANPY walking). BUT I understand he say’s that they’ll run up a 0-2 count on him right away. He knows they want him to hit it, I know the feeling that’s how my career ender.

I think Pierre out to really crowd the plate and take one for the team once in awhile ala Ron Hunt (and that kid on Bad News Bears.) That or a walk and an SB leading off an inning I’ll accept as a “double.”

Scott I must say that when I was speaking earlier about the Pierre bashing I was not talking directly about you…it was the group…Advice quit reading the newspaper…LOL

Anyway what a crappy game..I do like the fact that lasorda had the boys running the last 2 days. Tracy and little used to irk the **** out of me by sitting on their hands. Thats why I like Scioscia, he gets the game going and opens up holes in the defense. And it includes everyone. Hopefully Torre will let the boys go.

That’s right, we get 25 nowadays. I’d like to see DYoung get some reps at 3rd to see what he can do defensively there. Otherwise, we may need to start the season with DeWitt. Not a bad choice but it would be better if he started the season in AAA. Let him, Hu, and Abreau get some consistant playing time together. Unfortunately, RMartinez probably gets the nod by default. That Lindsey guy sure is making a case for himself but I think Ned and Joe will go with Sweeney. Repko still has options so he probably starts in AAA.

Martinez cannot be on this team…Say it is not so…Lindsey has been swinging the bat well, but Sweeney has made a career out of being able to pinch hit. I think he gets the nod. There has to be a better option than Martinez….

Four man starting rotations. It is amazing how pitchers back then could go out every 4th day and pitch 7, 8, and 9 innings consistantly. And that was before all this sports medicine, better nutrition, and better training.

ERAs we lower then too, and the league was only 12 teams so you didn’t have the diluted talent pool.

dodgerboy – ‘fraid Martinez is it – he can play all the infield positions and I’m sure Hu goes to the minors to stay sharp in case Raffy, Nomar or Kent goes down. If Abreu were healthy, then I’d say is in and Ramon’s out, but he seems to have some issues.

Kuo is out of options. He has to stay or we will lose him. Trouble is with the short warmup time coming in from the bullpen and his very fragile elbow, I’m not sure how long he would last in that roll. Of course, he hasn’t lasted long in a starting roll either. Sure wish he had options left. A few months or a season in AAA would be good for him right now.

Kuo’s the opposite of Hendy. Kuo needs to prepare himself, so a scheduled start gives him that opportunity, whereas relief he never knows when or where. Hendy with a scheduled start was awful, but when he came to the ballpark not knowing, he pitched pretty good in relief.

Another reason I’m glad Ned didn’t try too hard to get Santana. Not only would we be saddled with his contract, this Kershaw kid is gonna be something special, and we would’ve had to watch him and Kemp blossom on the Twins and be stuck here thinking what might’ve been.

One thing is clear: Signing has been vets has not worked and brining up our own prospects is the only thing that has led to consistency. Sure Gibson led the way in 1988, but home growns like Hershiser, Scioscia, Marshall and Sax were established Dodgers by then and that year was really unique anyway.

Repko to me is the perfect 4th Ofer for any team. Plays all the positions well, great arm, great speed, and can hit a little when given the chance. I’m really surprised no other GMs asked about him that has some surplus of one sort or another to deal.

Dodgers have never fared too well in the FA market. Gibby had just that one magical year. Pitchers have fared really bad, especially when Kevin Brown is the highlight. Lowe’s been slightly above average. Anyone remember Dave Goltz and Don Stanhouse? Now we have Schmidt.

Rick Rhoden – good hitter. So was Rick Sutcliffe. Dreifort wasn’t bad either. That’s why I hate the DH – takes away from the pitcher that can help himself. Its almost like giving a handicap when you should be playing scratch.

Dodgers have a history of trading away pitchers that go on to bigger and better things – Stewart, Welch, Martinez, Sutcliffe, Zahn (to a lesser degree.)

Stanhouse nickmane was “Full Pack”. He was frustrating enough to drive Weaver into smoking one pack per appearance, but not three.

I remember a video of Stanhouse after the Dodgers dropped him. He was floating in his pool, enjoying a tropical beverage, and collecting $1 million/year, which in 1980 was quite a high salary. (Not that I’d mind it today)

If you’re suggesting Shawn Green was a bad free agent signing, I’m gonna have to set you straight. We got Green from the Blue Jays basically straight-up for Raul Mondesi.

We definitely got the best of that deal, as Green in his five years as a Dodger had three very, very good years and two decent years. Meanwhile Mondesi — who I loved — went on to have four mediocre years before he lost his mind.

Gotta love this kids stuff and his confidence. The video of his curveball to Casey was a jaw-dropper.

Nevertheless, I am prepared to wait for him to truly be ready. Too many young pitchers have come up prematurely and been rooned (Larry David pronunciation). If we had a hitter with his skills I would feel differently. Hitters aren’t as subject to injury.

Thanks MaLoKp, I just recall that after some good years, we couldn’t wait for his bus to leave. Not the worst, but clearly, did not live up to expectations for the duration of the contract. That is kind of what we were going for.

When the Braves acquired him, Ted Turner tried to give him the nickname “Channel” to wear on the back of his uniform and assign him #17 as an advertisement for his fledgling Turner Broadcasting Station (TBS). Turner got a quick smackdown from MLB on that one.

Ithink the answer to in-house vs. FA pick-ups is a delicate balance. You need both, look at the BoSox roster last season, it was filled with guys acquired from other teams. Manny, Ortiz, Lowell, Lugo, Drew, Beckett, Schilling, Matsusaka the list goes on and on. It’s not like FAs are all damaged commodities, we just need the right talent evaluators making the decisions on the market.

jhall, you mentioned that Manny is about the only FA pick-up thats worked out but can you name the last team to win a World Series with an entire line-up of in-house guys?

And it’s a darn shame that we had to trade Mondi when he copped an attitude with ownership. When a player has an irreconcilable difference with the owner, the player goes.

Of course, Raul was absolutely right that Murdoch/Fox was a terrible owner, and the front office had nooooo clue. If it had been up to me whether to get rid of Mondesi or Murdoch it would have been a clear no-brainer. And … who knows? … perhaps Mondesi would have had a better career and maintained his sanity.

No Charris, but that was not the point. No one is saying not to persue FA’s. We were debating the long term contracts(5-7years). Hey, I am all for FA signings to fill needs. But it seems from history, it is wise to limit the length to 3 or 4 years.

I think signing an offensive player in his prime to a long-term contract can be okay. Much dicier with a pitcher.

Johan Santana is one of the very few pitchers I would even consider signing for more than three or four years. And right now the Mets look like geniuses and the class of the NL. But if his arm suffers serious injury as so often happens with pitchers, that $20 million annual payroll hit in exchange for worthless goods is gonna be a real heavy anchor around their necks.

Don’t get me wrong jhall, I’m all for raising up a core nucleus like what we have here on our team but their will certainly be needs even if we keep all the kids. Sometimes GMs have to commit to longer term contracts just to get the right pieces of the puzzle in place and outbid the open market. I don’t neccasarily agree with it but sometimes GMs have to roll the dice.

Yep, and most of the time that will come back to haunt you in the backend of the contract. That is the point. Not many very long term deals work out for the duration of the contract. I guess if you give someone a 7 year deal and get 3-4 good years and a World Series title, it makes it much more pallitable. Many times however, you roll the bones, come up empty, and still have the contract choking your organization.

The free agent list at the top is, as others have noted, quite thin. The only guys who excite me at all have options for ’09. Obviously if they perform well, their current team will exercise the option.

I agree with enchanted that we should probably resign Furcal. If he’s playing well thru mid-season, lock him up.

Let me preface, if you can lock up a great player long term for their prime years(26-32) with a long term contract, I would go for it. However, most of these contracts are doled out ot players in the back end of their prime(30-33). That in my opinion is why most of them fail.

Unfortunately, that is the system. Players are in their prime when they are under control of their team until they have made their name and become stars. They go thru arbitration until they are around 30, then cash in on what they have done. Hence, you get 2-3 good years(ages 31-34) and then you pay for the declining years. Not always, but most of the time.

Vladimir Guerrero has given the Angels a great return for his 5/70 contract (and a $15M option for ’09).

Jim Thome’s 6/85 is probably one year too long (that last year is this year and he’ll turn 38 in late August), but he had four great years and one bad with injury.

Maybe Carlos Beltran’s 7/119 will work out. He was poor the first year, but a 150 and 126 OPS+ CENTERfielder the last two. Still he’ll be 34 in that last year. The way his contract is structured (backloaded), he makes Andruw Jones-like money the next two seasons ($0.8M more).

Would you count the extention of Albert Pujols for 7 years/$100M ? That’s for ’04 – ’10, with a $16M option for ’11, when he’s 31, a likely bargain. Of course he’ll lose one of those years when his elbow completes its shredding process.

Because of what jhall points out above, the competitive advantage teams can gain is to identify the right players to extend when they are younger and buy out some arbitration and FA years. This allows the team to have the productive years and make that free agent decision when the player is a little older. Grady Sizemore is a bargain right now. Tulowitzki and Holliday will likely be for the next few years. Pujols, as I pointed out above.

If the Dodgers are smart, they will start locking up the really good players as they attain arbitration eligibility. Russell Martin next off season. Perhaps Loney and Kemp the next. Maybe Billingsley. Etc.

Pujols is a great deal even if he loses one year to injury. Buy out the last 2-3 years of arbitration and the first 2-3 years of free agency if you are going to dole out a 6-7 year contract. That way you get the prime years. After this year or next, we need to seriously talk with Martin if he continues his current production.

There is a tremendous abundance of nothing but downside FAs after this season. Not even many gap fillers for a year or two.

It appears that management has finally wised-up and found a way to lock in their talent while it is still talent by buying out the arb+2FA years. Also somewhat circumvents the huge bonanzas of first time FAs. This is obviously the new “moneyball”, and I must say for the clubs that can afford it, yields continuity for an extra 2-3 years. This also makes a healthy and productive farm system that much more valuable. As I said before, in 5-6 years I want to be able to have the debate of should we keep the Kemps and Loneys or let the new kids have their day.

Of course with this new trend I can see Fehr trying to renegociate for the next collective bargaining agreement.

Very good post Enchanted. I thought the same thing as I reviewed who is available next year. Hopefully Ned can hang on to our young talent, because as you mentioned, we’ll need it for the next few years.
The new collective bargaining agreement is what really concerns me. Many players are now overpaid (Pierre is a prime example) and make far more than they are worth. Should be interesting to see how the players respond to the dry free agent pool over the next year. Even with the lack of talent, I can’t see salaries declining. It may be the makings of the perfect storm…

Good point regarding FA and the Red Sox. I guess I was saying that specifically, the Dodgers have been snake bitten by FA’s over the years while they enjoyed their most prosperous run with mostly Dodgers farm system players. Of course a lot of that was before free agency really took off.

It’ll be an interesting transition period over the next few years from the new school thinking of locking your young guys up vs. the old school throw huge money at FAs. I think along with the new school trend that you’ll also see the length of FA contracts stay down to 3-4 years.

Even looking at Teixeira, you throw a 6-7 year contract at him and as jhall points out, the return those last 2 decline years is probably going to come back and bite you.

jhall makes a good point about not getting contract value towards the backend of most big FA contracts. I guess with the system in it’s current state, you need to hope that when the big FA contracts are hurting your payroll, you also have a few young pre-arbitration players over-performing their modest salaries. In a sense, this would balance out the value loss of the big FA contracts.

Billy Crystal is a DH (desegnated Hebrew) for Yankees today and I got that game on the side here incase anyone would like to know how he does and can’t access that game. LET’S GO DODGERS WIN WON FOR TOMMY.

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